In this
experiment, I answered the question, how do different
surfaces affect the momentum of marbles?
To do this experiment I to roll the marble on the flat surface and
observe what happened. I used 6
different surfaces: Styrofoam, t-shirt, towel, glass, cardboard and, a plastic
bag. Once I conducted the experiment, the results were as I expected. The results of the experiment were placed on
a table I created:
Table 1. Impact surfaces have on momentum of
marbles.
|
Surface
|
Impact on Momentum
|
|
Observation
|
|
|
Wood
|
The marble rolled and then stopped and rolled in the opposite
directed (slanted floors). If thrown
with more energy, will bounce of wall and roll in opposite direction until
energy is used.
|
|
Styrofoam
|
Slower momentum than the wooden surface.
|
|
T-Shirt
|
Approximately same momentum on T-shirt as wood when T-Shirt is
flat. If t-shirt is wrinkled the
momentum stops.
|
|
Towel
|
Momentum slows quickly and stops shortly after throwing
|
|
Plastic
|
Approximately same momentum as wood.
|
|
Flat Cardboard
|
Approximately same momentum
|
|
Plastic Bag
|
Slowed momentum
|
After conducting the experiment, I decided to
explore further and the marble in a container with water and the momentum was
slower. Then I rolled the marble in
thick oil. The oil slowed the momentum,
however, when covered in oil in thin, the marble would roll without much
help. Depending on how it landed in the
oil, it would not roll but slide.
The challenges I
face while designing the experiment was that I wanted conduct the experiment in
a more recordable method. I wanted to
time the marble going down the surfaces at an angle. That way the method was uniform. However, when I conducted a trial, the marble
rolled down so quickly that I did not have enough time to even press start on
the timer. I then had to use a procedure
where I would toss the marble on the surface.
There would be many variables, the angle, the force and the height that
would not be able to be replicated.
The modifications I would make to this
experiment are that I would make measurable.
I wanted the experiment to be timed or have some uniformity for more
replicable and reliable results. The way
I would modify this experiment for students in my classroom, is to include a
task where students would play a traditional game on different surfaces and
observe their gameplay and how their strategies to win changed, for example, if
they had to hit it harder or softer. The objective of this would be to have
students understand that different surfaces have different friction. This amount of friction has an effect of
momentum and motion. I believe that this
achievable with this inquiry activity.
It was unusual to have the same results on Linoleum Floors as the marble came to a halt. I repeated this particular part of the assignment several times before coming to the conclusion the floors were slanted. To go a little further right outside the door, the marble was placed on the concrete and repeated the process. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteMarcello
How did you make sure you used the same amount of force when releasing the marbles?
ReplyDelete